narutofanonfandomcom-20200222-history
Rival Assassins: Keiji vs. Takeshi
A small group of rebels from multiple nations had created a small, yet growing village. Konoha had noticed this and dispatched a lone operative to destroy it when it is still vulnerable. From the shadows surrounding this small village, a man garbed in black stood quietly, his intentions and presense unknown to the ANBU operative who was also quietly moving towards the rebels... "Movement on all sides, multiple enemies at danger close, and plenty of cover to move around. Lookin' good, Keiji." "No kidding." Under the cat-like mask, the ANBU operative known as "Keiji" on the communicator frowned slightly under his mask, despite his non-chalant chuckle. His figure was right behind the cover of a small house, and to the left ahead of him were two of the rogue guards. Between his fingers were two kunai, one for each of the two. "There will be few enemies crossing these roads, but the resistance will get heavier inside the captial. Once the frontline defenses have been cleared, radio in so the rest of the squadron can move in on the village." "Roger that." After the radio communication cut off, Keiji immediately sprang into action. Twisting the hand that held the deadly knives with the elegance of an assasin, he flicked and released. They flew like bullets, and before either one of the guards knew what had happened, their lives were ended by those kunai plowing through their skulls. Promptly, they dropped like flies. Keiji moved quickly, running silently and using the shadows of the night as cover. The one garbed in black was also moving, but his path sent him towards the leader of the villages base. Plenty more was up ahead. Two more kunai was held in his hands. Like a ghost, he weaved through them, cutting through guard after guard before they had a chance to realize that there was an intruder in their presence. They were bathed in their own blood, and they dropped like potato sacks - with little effort from Keiji himself. Little did he know, that in conjunction with his path, the one in pure black was moving at the same pace as he was. The other made a swift jump up to an archer's post and slide a blade into his back. He took a knife and threw it with perfect accuracy into the man's head. Then he jumped back out of sight. It was a lucky move, an unconcious steam of help from the stranger that Keiji couldn't see. Otherwise, that same archer would've had a bead onto the ANBU's head and ended his life prematurely. Within seconds, he approached the base door, pressing his back up behind it. "Shit..." The voice on the other end of his radio growled. "Looks like you're not going to be using stealth... they've got tight security in there. One mistake and you are a dead man..." "Oh, well..." Keiji sighed heavily, backing away from the doors. He raised his hands up, a bright energy circling around his hands. It crackled like lightning, yet it was the only energy that most shinobi were known for - chakra. "I guess it can't all be hide-and-seek... but then again, I guess I've been waiting for this moment..." A smirk crawled under the mask... BOOM! Within seconds, the doors had been forcefully blown apart and open, allowing the man to step through to meet his rogue enemies. His hands were still crackling, and he stood with a malicious intent. "Let's create some fireworks." The other was more subtle, slipping in through a second story balcony. He quietly placed a hand on his blade, and stalked through the halls. As he rounded a corner, he stabbed his blade into a guard's back, who's attention was conveniently directed towards the other assassin. All hell broke loose into the main room. Without hesitation, Keiji charged up and unleashed a bolt of his own chakra straight into the nearest guard's chest, ripping through the heart and killing him. Instantly, several carefully positioned archers opened fire on him, their arrows flying towards him like snakes in strike path. He acted instinctively - his hands raised up, forming considerably sized, circular, and transparent shields made of the deadly chakra. They protected him as he ran towards the guards, who had their weapons ready. As soon as he was in range, Keiji dropped the shields and fought hand-to-hand with those same shinigami guards. His movements were quick, fast, and painful for anyone unfortunate enough to oppose him. Within seconds, those enemies were down for the count, and he rushed through before the archers could fire again. The mysterious assassin already had knives through both archers, and with a simple flick of his wrist, he sent another knife into a guard charging the other assassin. Once again, their assistance towards each other was seemingly unintentional, neither of them holding awareness of alertness of each other's presences. Yet, as the same objective they were racing to, and the same center they were willing to annihilate, their actions were merging together as one. It would be only a matter of time, before these two assassins met. "Hah!" The voice on the other end sounded triumphant at the sudden clearing of the enemy forces. "The bastards didn't know what hit 'em! Nice work, Keji!" "Yeah..." It was at that point the man's attention was somewhat distracted. Now, he was running down a straight corridor, one that would eventually lead him to the quarters of the rebel leader himself. "Chiaki... didn't you say the defenses were supposed to be tight? That was almost way too sudden a clearing..." "Scanning...." There was a few more moments of silence other than the sound of Keiji's rapid and slapping footsteps across the ground. Then, the response was quite thoughtful and surprised. "That's odd... whatever groups remained have been taken out already..." Tension started to creep into his partner's tone as she continued to speak. "Stay frosty. You might not be the only one who's hunting these guys down anymore." The assassin suddenly jumped off a perch he had climbed up to, landing on top of a guard, stabbing into the foe with clean and silent efficiency. He knew there was another assassin present, but it did not matter, as long as he finished his goal. He then jumped out the window, and with quick and agile leaps climbed up to the top of the building. "Ok, you should be approaching the target door...right...about..." Abruptly, Keiji skidded to a stop in front of massive double doors. Cautiously this time, he snuck over, leaned his body against it, and pressed his ear against cold brick in order to listen. He could feel a chakra signature inside, a solo one - but it was dead silent. Maneuvering over to the wall before the doors, he pulled a white scroll out of his pocket, pasted it onto that wall, and pressed a palm onto the center. Immediately, as if confirming a fingerprint, the markings on the said sheet of paper glowed a brilliant white. "The beacon's up. You can start your approach." "Roger that. Firestorm out." The other assassin was already ahead, having pinpointed the rebel leader's exact position in the room. He pulled out his blade and swiftly cut out the roof above him. Then he dropped down and ended the rebel's life without a word. Unfortunately, Keiji hadn't relied on his senses then. As soon as the leader's corpse dropped, the door was swiftly pushed open, and the second assassin stepped into the room. With the speed of a cobra, he flicked his left wrist up, turned into a half-pivot, and swung his other wrist sideways. The gleaming kunai knives flew like bullets towards what Keiji had assumed to be the target, the kunai nearest to Keiji hidden in the shadow of the lead ones. The other assassin jumped out of the way, his face still hidden by his hood. He then sent a knife at Keiji, which did not hit him, but his store of kunai's, relieving him of them. He was going to be a toughie to take down. But, thank God Keiji had fast reflexes. POOF! Keiji was too late to keep himself from parting from his precious kunai. But, he did manage to turn himself at an angle where his smoke bombs had went off. That offensive kunai had scraped one of them and set them off, enveloping him in a dense cloud of smoke. With his body hidden from view, he didn't waste anytime in using his speed in order to get behind his opponent, spinning around and swinging a low punch towards the midsection. The other assassin cleanly blocked the strike, and then whipped around with a kick aimed at Keiji's head. Keiji moved accordingly, with the flow of the foot heading his way. In doing so, he once again allowed himself to move in a pivot, movements elegant and rapid like a raging river. His own leg spun around as he came around in a 360-degree angle, matching the second assassin's attack. Only his own was aimed for the neck - a blow intended for paralysis. The assassin jumped back, pushing his hood back to reveal Takeshi, who was not a well known one, but a legend among assassins. He pulled out 4 knives and flung them in a spread at Keiji. "What...?!" It wasn't much of a surprise to see that under the mask, Keiji's eyes widened out of shock. His body movement was too stunned to dodge the attack, but as two of them approached, his hands flung up and caught them just before they hit his face. The other two whizzed by harmlessly. He switched them to fit his fingers between the holes, swinging them around as if he were swinging two chains. For the first time, he allowed himself to speak. "Hitokiri Takeshi, hm?" His voice was conversational, although it held a bit of dry wit in the tone. "Should've known something was up about this..." "What? With the easy journey you had to the leader's office? Konoha's not the only one with worried about these guys," said Takeshi in a bored tone. He pointed at the hole in the roof. "When you are trying to remain unseen, either leave no witnesses, or let there be no witnesses." The bored tone in the man's voice seemed to amuse Keiji, and he couldn't help but grin a bit. "Hmph! I guess I owe you one... you just saved us Konoha-nin a lot of work when they get here." Takeshi chuckled, "You've got skill, but you lack experience. Just try nto to rely on extreme force as much as you did today." He then began walking towards the window of the room. "Oh, so you're gonna give me a teaching lesson, sensei?" As the man walked by him, Keiji couldn't help but throw out a teasing remark, with the sempai to emphasize. "Thanks, kid. But it's been nearly twenty years I've been doing this job. I think I know what I'm do--" "HANDS UP!! DON'T MOVE!!" It was like everything had crashed down upon the two. At the sound of the barking statement, several clicks of a crossbow could be heard from all sides. His eyes caught the figures of several shinobi wielding crossbows leveled at both Keiji and Takeshi and ready to fire. All of their flanks had been covered in the blink of an eye - even snipers that peered down from the hole had joined in to block off thei entrance. "Don't make any sudden moves!" The commander bravely stepped up, his own sword ready and leveled. "Or you'll be nothing but corpses on the sidewalk!! Show me your hands!!" "Chiaki... where in the hell are you...?" Keiji whispered discreetly to his radio partner. "Enemies have surrounded me from all sides, danger close!" "Really?" An amused chuckle came from the other end, much to his slight annoyance. "Well then, just hang tight. We're in position..." Takeshi sighed, "Idiot." Weaving handsigns too quick for anyone without a Sharingan to read, Takeshi pulled out his blade and muttered, "Maou Gokuenha." He closed his eyes for 5 seconds. The Commander yelled to fire, but his archers were too slow. Takeshi's eyes opened wide and charged forward with great speed. He slashed at most of the archers, with a sudden strength that caused most to be cleanly sliced in two. Then he rose into the air. "This is my final strike..." Takeshi slammed down to the ground, calling on dark fire to burn the rest of the archers. As the dust settled, only Keiji, Takeshi, and the commander were still standing. Needless to say, both Keiji and the commander were surprised. The former of which was very impressed, while the latter was quite horrified to have his entire army so easily slaughtered. His confidence faded immediately, even as attempts of reinforcements came to charge in from the windows, this time wielding swords. However, they failed to notice the five kunai implant themselves onto the ceiling, explosive tags burning slowly to the rope. In his command, the partner whispered mockingly in Keiji's ear one word that would signal their deaths: "Good bye." BOOM! The explosion triggered a cave in of half of the ceiling, causing boulders and debri to fall onto the startled troops, including the commander. Whatever rogue ninja who wasn't dead were now trapped in a suffocation prison for the rest of their short lives. Now, as Keiji and Takeshi the only men remaining, Keiji sighed in relief. "About damn time..." It was then that his teammates, in white cloaks and in different ANBU masks flashed into the room, two in a crouch position, and one standing straight. The one who was standing had a mask with tiger stripes on it, and as it walked up to Keiji, its voice was that of a female's - the one who had been speaking to him on radio. "Sorry if we took so long, sir... did you miss us?" Her voice was a little bit taunting at his urgency at the situation, almost as if she was amused by the thought of Keiji even being in such danger. "Hardly..." Takeshi yawned, "Huh... I take it you're the interrogation specialist?" directing his words at the female ANBU that had joined them. At her nod he studied her. "Another one with obvious talent just little experience with the finer points of the skill." The remark seemed to tick her off a bit. "Why, thank you." She replied in an obviously sarcastic tone. "That critique on my performance really does wonders on my self-esteem." She tilted her head towards Keiji again. "And what about you? Been making new friends since we were away?" "....sort of." The remark made Keiji feel a bit self-aware, since he was standing in the presence of such a legendary assassin. But he retained his composure. "This man was an indirect assistant. You should thank him - he made the clean up easier." Takeshi chuckled, "I don't need thanks, but... Konoha might end up being my next contractor if this keeps up..." Both of the ANBU looked up questioningly. "These aren't rebels, these are terrorists in every sense of the word. I was sent to kill them after an explosion leveled half of one of the great nation's main villages. If you want... I'll train you a bit if you help me with the rest of these terrorists... this was only one small part of the cell." "Just another day at the office..." Keiji folded his arms across his chest, sighing out of annoyance. His eyes closed in contemplation. "Wait a minute..." That was when the female rounded on Takeshi, annoyance flashing in her eyes. "How in the hell do we know that you're not simply lying through your teeth about this?" She probed. "After all, you may be a so-called legend in my teammate's eyes, but you're still a foreign ninja whom we know nothing about. You sure this isn't some trap you're trying to pull us into?" Takeshi rolled his eyes, "I have no allegiance to any village, hence no headband or other mark." He sighed and pointed at the direction of Konoha. "You want to see a nice big explosion in the middle of the village?" The woman scoffed. "That just proves my point." She declared. "Now, if you'd be so kind as to--" "Let it go, Chiaki." That destroyed any sort of defiance she had, and she turned her head towards her leader in a dumbfounded expression which was luckily hid behind her mask. However, under his own, Keiji held a rather serious face. "That's fine." He said simply to Takeshi. "I suppose we can take a bit of time on our active duty in order to help you out. As for the training, I don't care what you do." Takeshi laughed, "I prefer a more active lesson so... we'll need an unwilling volunteer." He plunged his arm into the rubble with perfect accuracy, allowing him to pull out the semi-concious commander. "He'll do just fine... though first I need to go to Konoha... supplies are necessary for this op." "We need to head back as well." Keiji agreed. "I'll need to update the rest of my team with this news, after all...." Takeshi nodded, "Just send them a note... I want both of you to come with me when I persuade your head ANBU for supplying." That made Keiji cock an eyebrow, but he decided not to say anything, for a small messenger bird was approaching. His seemingly reluctant partner raised one finger in order for it to perch on. "Well... if we're going to leave 'em a note..." She muttered, catching the roll-up paper in one hand. "Here's some paper to write it on." "Well, how convienient!" A smirk came across Keiji's face, even as he walked over to gently take the paper from her hands. "With this, I can save the talking for later." Takeshi yawned, "You can tell me what that's about later... for now we need to get going." He walked over to the window and with a graceful leap, dove out the window. Both of the ANBU ran over to make sure he hadn't killed himself, but he had grabbed onto the edge of the wall and hauled himself over, dropping down to the other side. After quickly scribbling down something on the paper, Keiji rolled it up and gave it back to the female's bird. With a soft squawk, it turned and flew off in the direction of Konohagakure. Then, without hesitation, they followed suit, grabbing the edge of the wall and dropping down onto the other side with perfect execution. They ran after Takeshi, who was obviously much faster than they were, and barely managed to keep up with him. Despite his obvious age, it was apparent that he was much stronger than met the eye. With the apparent dismissal of several ninja in seconds, his display of knowledge, and even his speed were practical evidence. Despite his status, Keiji couldn't help but think one thing about the boy that was leading towards unexpected results. Who was he? The End